2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Echinocystis (lat. Echinocystis) - a genus of herbaceous plants of the Pumpkin family. Other names are prickly fruit or mad cucumber. The genus unites 15 species common in the Mediterranean, China, Japan, North America, Atlantic and Central Europe. In Russia, only one species is found - Echinocystis lobular, or Thorny lobate (lat. Echinocystis lobata). It is used as an ornamental crop; if the conditions of cultivation and care are not observed, it often runs wild. Echinocystis is extremely aggressive, grows rapidly and fills empty spaces. Typical growing places are neglected gardens, summer cottages, coastal areas.
Characteristics of culture
Echinocystis is a herbaceous vine that forms a fibrous root system and abundant thickets of decorative leaves during the growth process. Stems are thin, juicy, pubescent, branched at the nodes, cling to the support with 3-4-separate antennae. Leaves are pale green, alternate, long-petiolate, glabrous, deeply notched at the base, 3-5-7-lobed, up to 15 cm long.
The flowers are dioecious, regular in shape, have the finest honey aroma. Stamen flowers sit singly on peduncles, collected in erect panicles. Corolla is white, with glandular-pubescent linear or lanceolate-curved lobes. Pistillate flowers are collected in bunches of two or single.
The fruit is a broad-ovate gray-green pumpkin, covered over the entire surface with short spines. Seeds are flattened, elliptical or oblong-oval, light brown, brown or black. Echinocystis blooms in June-September, the fruits ripen in August-October, which depends entirely on climatic conditions.
The subtleties of growing
Echinocystis is propagated by seeds. Sow the culture before winter in a nesting way. Place 2-3 seeds in the nest. The seeding depth is 1, 5-2 cm. In the spring, the seedlings are thinned out, leaving one plant in the nest. The distance between plants in a row should be about 80-100 cm.
The plant prefers light, loose, moisture and air permeable soils with a neutral reaction. Echinocystis does not tolerate acidic, highly waterlogged and heavy soils. The culture is not demanding to the location, it develops well in the sun and in dense shade. Echinocystis is relatively cold-resistant, but responsive to heat.
It has a negative attitude towards heat, develops slowly and turns yellow quickly. The best predecessors are root vegetables, onions and potatoes. Care consists in dressing, which is carried out twice a season: the first - during flowering, the second - during fruiting. The use of nitrophoska and gruel-like mullein is not prohibited as fertilizers.
Application
Echinocystis is grown in gardens and household plots as a honey plant and an ornamental plant. Suitable for vertical landscaping of balconies, arches, fences, walls of houses and buildings. It is also cultivated to form green trellises. The plant is also used in folk medicine. The fruits contain a large amount of substances useful for the human body, such as mineral salts, pectin substances and enzymes.
